FOUNDER'S GREEN

hudson has become rather obsessed with slides. swings, he could take 'em or leave 'em. but slides, those are the ticket to complete happiness. we managed to each take a turn with him on the inflatable slide prior to the meltdown that resulted from having to wait in line. the patience required for such a task is not in an 18-month-old's makeup. this is documented below. 

but, problem solved. he found another slide, if you could call it that. with no line. this entertained him for a solid 30+ minutes while we sipped our pinot noir and stuffed ourselves with cured meats, cheese and bread. oh, and how could i forget the little tub of black truffle butter, spread onto all of the above. hudson favored the apples and pears, which i think were really just there for good measure anyway.

the rain arrived just as hudson was starting to tire out, our cue to head home. the point of the outing was to watch The Sandlot on the big inflatable screen and we didn't even make it to the opening credits. but it still felt like a success. as hudson gets older we'll be able to participate in more of these great events. for now, we're just getting our feet wet, and possibly a little muddy.

{WORDLESS WEDNESDAY}

rocky mountain national park, sprague lake

EMBARASSED || SPOKEN WORD BY HOLLIE MCNISH {BREASTFEEDING BADASS}

i am in love with this spoken word by Hollie McNish. i thankfully have never had any negative feedback from nursing in public, but i have heard horror stories of moms (and subsequently babies) getting kicked off planes, asked to leave retail stores and generally being shamed for doing something that couldn't be more natural. the entire animal kingdom does it for crying out loud. there are so many wonderful efforts being made to encourage breastfeeding from the get-go in the hospital. i hope the awareness of its benefits spread and that the trend toward more breastfeeding in this country continues. i hope that if more moms do it and more people talk about it, it will become so commonplace that nobody will bat an eye when your baby gets hungry and you're on a bus or in a store or on a plane and you whip out a boob. i'm glad there are nursing covers out there for moms who feel more comfortable with them, but i hope they are using them for their own sake and not to make those around them feel more at ease. i never use anything, which works for me and feels like less of a production. less like something that is drawing attention to me and my son. feeding our babies and toddlers with what our body can provide is an incredible gift and i look forward to a time when its not something any mom has to feel embarrassed about.

BAKER BEACH AND OTHER SF ADVENTURES

H and I spent last weekend in San Francisco to celebrate the upcoming birth of little Gibb-Hardt. for the most part, I did a terrible job of photographing all the wonderful moments spent with so many of my favorite people. the 4th of july was spent talking and giggling in my sister's backyard, watching H play with his nana and papa, auntie eri and uncle ty, uncle jones. it was so special. it was also special to leave h with his grandparents while we walked to golden gate park for some proper 4th of july beer drinking. this feels like a rare moment of relaxation when you live somewhere with no family to take your children and never get a chance for a little time away. 

on friday, my dad, aka gramps grumps, arrived and was added to the mix. my sister, mom and i went to get our nails done, but my sister unintentionally roofied me with a Xanax since i had woken up with terrible lower back pain and she thought it would help. i barely remember that pedicure. the rest of the day was spent shopping and preparing food for the next day's baby shower. no matter how much you prepare for parties like this, i always feel like the day of proves to be crazy chaos. 

saturday proved to be no different. jones and i got up early and went for a five mile run in golden gate park. it was fun to have a buddy to run with and the weather was perfect and cool. we treated ourselves to a blue bottle coffee on the way home. we arrived back to a bustling house, everyone pitching in to get everything ready to take to the park later that morning. it wasn't quite crazy chaos yet, but we were approaching it. everyone was tackling various things from a list, there were lots of us in the kitchen, cooking, frosting, marinating. i seemingly no longer live by my culinary school's mantra, clean as you go. but i love these moments of everyone together, gettin' stuff done. it feels good. the shower went off without a hitch in spite of the gloomy weather. there was a perfect amount of food, which everyone really enjoyed. the kids had fun with the bubble machine and rubber balls. it was no matter that we came home to a disaster of a house from all the morning's frantic preparations.we did our best to tidy up and enjoyed a relaxing evening, all together. 

all the grandparents were ready to get out of there on sunday morning. me on the other hand, i wasn't going anywhere since my flight had been cancelled due to the tragic crash at sfo on saturday. but, i got an extra day to spend with my sister and jones! we decided to take H to Baker Beach. dressed in typical SF summer beach wear (a sweater, long pants and a hat), H tentatively explored the sand after a little coaxing from us. jones spent a large chunk of time retrieving cody after he ended up at the far end of the beach. H seemed content just sitting on the blanket with my sister, but he did venture out at one point to play with a couple little kids nearby. after our cold but satisfying adventure we picked up "world famous turkey sandwiches" from the Arguello market. it's a mystery how i lived a few blocks from this place for 6+ years and never managed to have one of these sandwiches. it really may have been the world's best. we rounded out the day with some delicious sushi and plenty of chit chat and giggles. it was a perfectly lovely foggy weekend in one of my favorite cities with some of my favorite people.

{WORDLESS WEDNESDAY}

{WORDLESS WEDNESDAY}